Latest Articles
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyLinking the Dynamic Response of the Carbon Dioxide-Concentrating Mechanism to Carbon Assimilation Behavior in Fremyella diplosiphonEnvironmental regulation of photosynthesis in cyanobacteria enhances organismal fitness, light capture, and associated carbon fixation under dynamic conditions. Concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) near the carbon-fixing enzyme RubisCO occurs via the CO2-concentrating mechanism (CCM). The CCM is also tuned in response to carbon availability, light quality or levels, or nutrient access—cues that also impact...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyCryo-EM Structures of a Gonococcal Multidrug Efflux Pump Illuminate a Mechanism of Drug Recognition and ResistanceNeisseria gonorrhoeae has become a highly antimicrobial-resistant Gram-negative pathogen. Multidrug efflux is a major mechanism that N. gonorrhoeae uses to counteract the action of multiple classes of antibiotics. It appears that gonococci bearing mosaic-like sequences within the gene mtrD...
Commentary | Host-Microbe BiologyDecreased, Deformed, Defective—How HIV-1 Vpu Targets PeroxisomesPeroxisomes are found in essentially all eukaryotic cells and have been described as important hubs in innate sensing and the induction of type III interferons upon viral infection. Nevertheless, it remains poorly investigated how viral pathogens modulate biogenesis or function of peroxisomes to evade innate sensing and restriction. In a recent study, Hobman and colleagues found that the accessory viral protein u (Vpu) of HIV-1 inhibits...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMolecular Insight into TdfH-Mediated Zinc Piracy from Human Calprotectin by Neisseria gonorrhoeaeThe dramatic rise in antimicrobial resistance among Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates over the last few decades, paired with dwindling treatment options and the lack of a protective vaccine, has prompted increased interest in identifying new bacterial targets for the treatment and, ideally, prevention of gonococcal disease. TonB-dependent transporters are a conserved set...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceParallel Evolution of Tobramycin Resistance across Species and EnvironmentsThe rise of antimicrobial resistance is a leading medical threat, motivating efforts to forecast both its evolutionary dynamics and its genetic causes. Aminoglycosides are a major class of antibiotics that disrupt translation, but resistance may occur by a number of mechanisms. Here, we show the repeated evolution of resistance to the aminoglycoside tobramycin in both P....
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Innate Immune Response to Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Infection Is Dampened in the Newborn Brain and Can Be Modulated by Exogenous Interferon Beta To Improve SurvivalHerpes simplex virus (HSV) is a ubiquitous human pathogen affecting 50 to 80% of the population in North America and Europe. HSV infection is commonly asymptomatic in the adult population but can result in fatal encephalitis in the newborn. Current treatment with acyclovir has improved mortality in the newborn; however, severe neurologic sequelae are still a major concern following HSV encephalitis. For this reason, there is a critical...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyImmune Profiling To Predict Outcome of Clostridioides difficile InfectionClostridioides difficile infection is the most common health care-associated infection in the United States with more than 20% patients experiencing symptomatic recurrence. The complex nature of host-bacterium interactions makes it difficult to predict the course of the disease based solely on clinical parameters. In the present study, we built a robust prediction...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyConidial Melanin of the Human-Pathogenic Fungus Aspergillus fumigatus Disrupts Cell Autonomous Defenses in AmoebaeInfections with Aspergillus fumigatus are usually acquired by an inhalation of spores from environmental sources. How spores of a saprophytic fungus have acquired abilities to withstand and escape the phagocytic attacks of innate immune cells is not understood. The fungal surface pigment dihydroxynaphtalene-melanin has been shown to be a crucial factor for the delay...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyInteractions of Symbiotic Partners Drive the Development of a Complex Biogeography in the Squid-Vibrio SymbiosisThe complexity, inaccessibility, and time scales of initial colonization of most animal microbiomes present challenges for the characterization of how the bacterial symbionts influence the form and function of tissues in the minutes to hours following the initial interaction of the partners. Here, we use the naturally occurring binary squid-vibrio association to explore this phenomenon. Imaging of the spatiotemporal landscape of this...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyHadaka Virus 1: a Capsidless Eleven-Segmented Positive-Sense Single-Stranded RNA Virus from a Phytopathogenic Fungus, Fusarium oxysporumFungi collectively host various RNA viruses. Examples include encapsidated double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses with diverse numbers of genomic segments (from 1 to 12) and capsidless viruses with nonsegmented (+)RNA genomes. Recently, viruses with unusual intermediate features of an infectious entity between encapsidated dsRNA viruses and capsidless (+)RNA viruses were found. They are called polymycoviruses, which typically have four to...